Red Gerberas

I deemed today an "in the garden" day because I HAD to fill up the green cans before tomorrow's pick-up. I also had to do some painting and caulking on the almost-completed deck. I finally ran out of things to put in the green cans (when does that ever happen?) and my finger was sore from spreading caulk along the seams of boards. So I came inside and managed to sneak in some studio time as the sun was going down.

It was such a glorious spring day to be outside working that I wanted to somehow capture how it felt in an art piece. So I took a photograph that I shot of the cute red gerberas in the workshop windowbox and turned it into a digital "painting" with Photoshop and a couple of fun textures.

And I liked the finished result so much, that I've made it available in notecards at the Dusting in Pearls online store. Not bad for an "in the garden" day. Now I can go collapse on the sofa and nurse my slight twinge of a headache while Hubby cooks us a late dinner.

Texture credits:
Warm Daydream by swimmingintheether
Flat Stone from my own collection of textures

Hepburn-esque Chic

The sun went missing last week, and we had rain. Rain meant I couldn't paint the railings of the deck and the contractors couldn't work on anything either. So I ended up with unexpected studio time on my hands. I was able to get some more pieces done and posted on Dusting in Pearls.

Over the past year, I've had a few designs (near and dear to my heart) that seemed like they belonged together in a collection, but I'd been fumbling around for a collection name. With Hubby's help last week, I was finally able to name the collection "Hepburn-esque Chic". That just seemed to fit.

Hubby has a particular love for "Fancy Kitty". Fancy Kitty is loosely based on a combination of features from Lucy and Thomasina, so that's probably why.

Lucy (above left) Thomasina (above right)
Fancy Kitty (below)

See any resemblance?

Working with paper

I am rediscovering that I love to work with my hands. That's probably why I'm taking a floral design class, a woodworking class, and teaching myself how to do handmade bookbinding. You'd think this would be a "no brainer" for me that I wouldn't have to rediscover, but for some reason I've forgotten this over time.

So yesterday, I decided to tackle the construction of a handmade booklet style portfolio to hold a set of 12 cards. All I had was something similar I'd picked up at the store. I pulled it apart to make a template, and then dove in to construct my own. It took me three tries, but I finally mastered it so that I like the result.

Now I can feature my notecards (like the Vintage Botanicals Collection) in nice neat little box that is pretty in its own right.

When I listed this on the Etsy store I decided to include a free set of 12 sheets of hand-cut and hand-embossed writing paper that are cut to fit into the notecards.

The story behind this paper is pretty cool. When we moved into Rosehaven Cottage, the previous owner had left reams of vintage paper, tablets, ledgers, and such in the attic. When I opened up the unopened reams of paper, I found a very high quality off-white paper that had a wonderful feel to it. But the size was an odd one that didn't fit current U.S. or European standards so it has sat without being used much except for the occasional visual aid in Sunday School class. Recently, I found some wonderful corner embossing tools and had the idea that I should cut down the vintage paper and make it into writing paper. Voila!

I told you I'm enjoying working with the my hands.

Invitation to Something New...

A new blog has been born that I would like to invite you all to visit--Dusting in Pearls. It is brand-new and has yet to be filled with a plethora of content. I am hoping that with suggestions and "hot tips" from all of you, it can become a fun place that will make you smile when you visit... because that's exactly what it's intended to be.

Click the box above to follow me on Twitter